The Olympics is creating a “ghost town” effect in central London as visitors who would normally flock to the capital’s shops, hotels and theatres stay away, casting doubt on expectations of a short-term economic boost from the games.

Maybe I am too swept up in the Olympic spirit, but whether we see an Olympic boom or bust, I hope we don’t worry too much about the economic impact from this event. Great Britain is surely more than the sum of its latest economic data.

The mysterious release of a photo of Michael Phelps in a bathtub, shot for a Louis Vuitton ad campaign, threatens to cause a splash of a different kind. Those involved deny having released it early, perhaps because it may put Phelps in hot water with the International Olympic Committee.

Monday marked the 3-year mark for the London 2012 Olympic Games. "Things are very much on track," Paul Deighton, CEO of LOCOG, said. While the infrastructure has been paid for by the taxpayer, the cost of running the Games is funded privately through ticket and merchandise sales and raising sponsorships, he added.

Clean Event Property Services Group provides cleaning and waste management services to the sports and leisure industry around the world. The group has provided their services at 4 Olympic Games. Tom Gibbons from CE Property Services Group told CNBC the project is very big and detailed.

Golf and rugby sevens have been added to the Olympic schedule for the 2016 Games in Rio de Janeiro, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) said on Friday. Mike Laflin, chief executive of SportCal, discusses how the sports will fare if they are included.

Progress is well underway on the 2012 Olympic Stadium. "Weâ??re 70% completeâ?¦this time next year weâ??ll be handing over all these facilities to Seb Coe and his team so that they can start their trial events," John Armitt, chairman of the Olympic Delivery Authority, told CNBC.

Links of London unveiled two new collections as part of its role as an official licensee of London 2012 Olympics. Xenia Carr-Griffiths, president EMEA of Links of London, spoke to CNBC about the collections.

âThis is a regeneration of a new metropolitan center for London and East Londonâ¦weâre really there because of the market fundamentals. We see East London as a huge opportunity,â Westfield Europe managing director Michael Gutman told CNBC.

A Deloitte survey shows that two-thirds of large companies expect no impact from the London Olympics. âBusinesses need to look and plan now,â Sally Atkins, program director for London 2012 at Deloitte told CNBC.

Stuart Corbyn chairman of Qatari Diar Delancy, told CNBC, "we have made this investment because we believe it is a worthwhile investment in the long-term, it is an exciting area and it will be even more exciting in the years gone by."

Greg Marsh, co-founder and CEO at One Fine Stay, told CNBC, "we describe ourselve as being half way between a boutique hotel and a holiday letting agency, in a sense that we take peoples private homes while they are out of town and make them available as an alternative to a hotel for visitors into the city."

Rupert Soames, CEO of Aggreko, told CNBC, "Europe did better than one might think, our revenues in continental Europe were up 12 percent, but as a group the underlying revenue growth was up 22 percent because we had a huge year in 2010 for major sporting events."